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A wide-ranging look at the history of Western thinking since the
seventeenth century on the purpose of the Jewish people in the
past, present, and future What is the purpose of Jews in the world?
The Bible singles out the Jews as God's "chosen people," but the
significance of this special status has been understood in many
different ways over the centuries. What Are Jews For? traces the
history of the idea of Jewish purpose from its ancient and medieval
foundations to the modern era, showing how it has been central to
Western thinking on the meanings of peoplehood for everybody. Adam
Sutcliffe delves into the links between Jewish and Christian
messianism and the association of Jews with universalist and
transformative ideals in modern philosophy, politics, literature,
and social thought. The Jews have been accorded a crucial role in
both Jewish and Christian conceptions of the end of history, when
they will usher the world into a new epoch of unity and harmony.
Since the seventeenth century this messianic underlay to the idea
of Jewish purpose has been repeatedly reconfigured in new forms.
From the political theology of the early modern era to almost all
domains of modern thought-religious, social, economic, nationalist,
radical, assimilationist, satirical, and psychoanalytical-Jews have
retained a close association with positive transformation for all.
Sutcliffe reveals the persistent importance of the "Jewish Purpose
Question" in the attempts of Jews and non-Jews alike to connect the
collective purpose of particular communities to the broader
betterment of humanity. Shedding light on questions of
exceptionalism, pluralism, and universalism, What Are Jews For?
explores an intricate question that remains widely resonant in
contemporary culture and political debate.
History, Memory and Public Life introduces readers to key themes in
the study of historical memory and its significance by considering
the role of historical expertise and understanding in contemporary
public reflection on the past. Divided into two parts, the book
addresses both the theoretical and applied aspects of historical
memory studies. 'Approaches to history and memory' introduces key
methodological and theoretical issues within the field, such as
postcolonialism, sites of memory, myths of national origins, and
questions raised by memorialisation and museum presentation.
'Difficult pasts' looks at history and memory in practice through a
range of case studies on contested, complex or traumatic memories,
including the Northern Ireland Troubles, post-apartheid South
Africa and the Holocaust. Examining the intersection between
history and memory from a wide range of perspectives, and supported
by guidance on further reading and online resources, this book is
ideal for students of history as well as those working within the
broad interdisciplinary field of memory studies.
History, Memory and Public Life introduces readers to key themes in
the study of historical memory and its significance by considering
the role of historical expertise and understanding in contemporary
public reflection on the past. Divided into two parts, the book
addresses both the theoretical and applied aspects of historical
memory studies. 'Approaches to history and memory' introduces key
methodological and theoretical issues within the field, such as
postcolonialism, sites of memory, myths of national origins, and
questions raised by memorialisation and museum presentation.
'Difficult pasts' looks at history and memory in practice through a
range of case studies on contested, complex or traumatic memories,
including the Northern Ireland Troubles, post-apartheid South
Africa and the Holocaust. Examining the intersection between
history and memory from a wide range of perspectives, and supported
by guidance on further reading and online resources, this book is
ideal for students of history as well as those working within the
broad interdisciplinary field of memory studies.
In a penetrating exploration of the various ways memories and
representations of the Jewish past have been reconfigured in new
historical circumstances, Renewing the Past, Reconfiguring Jewish
Culture focuses on two key eras of encounter between Jews and
non-Jews: the golden age of Sephardic culture in Islamic
al-Andalus, on the one hand, and on the other, the period of the
European Enlightenment and the Jewish Enlightenment, or Haskalah,
which it inspired. The writings assembled here engage with key
issues to understand how in both epochs the cultural orientation of
Jewish society was profoundly reassessed and transformed by new
influences filtering in from outside. Adopting a comparative
historical approach, Renewing the Past, Reconfiguring Jewish
Culture offers a view of moments of heightened interaction between
Jews and their host cultures. The elevation of the ideal of
rationalism provoked significant shifts in the aesthetic values and
patterns of cultural memory in Sephardic al-Andalus; this same
ideal once again posed insistent challenges in the era of the
Enlightenment, to which Jewish intellectuals widely responded by
evoking, but also refashioning, the historical precedent of the
Andalusian Golden Age. Looking to contexts ranging from premodern
Spain and Italy to nineteenth-century Russia, Germany, and America,
the eleven contributors to this volume-drawn equally from literary
and historical studies-explore the ways the political and
intellectual aspirations of successive historical presents have
repeatedly reshaped the forms and narratives of Jewish cultural
memory.
This seventh volume of The Cambridge History of Judaism provides an
authoritative and detailed overview of early modern Jewish history,
from 1500 to 1815. The essays, written by an international team of
scholars, situate the Jewish experience in relation to the multiple
political, intellectual and cultural currents of the period. They
also explore and problematize the 'modernization' of world Jewry
over this period from a global perspective, covering Jews in the
Islamic world and in the Americas, as well as in Europe, with many
chapters straddling the conventional lines of division between
Sephardic, Ashkenazic, and Mizrahi history. The most up-to-date,
comprehensive, and authoritative work in this field currently
available, this volume will serve as an essential reference tool
and ideal point of entry for advanced students and scholars of
early modern Jewish history.
This seventh volume of The Cambridge History of Judaism provides an
authoritative and detailed overview of early modern Jewish history,
from 1500 to 1815. The essays, written by an international team of
scholars, situate the Jewish experience in relation to the multiple
political, intellectual and cultural currents of the period. They
also explore and problematize the 'modernization' of world Jewry
over this period from a global perspective, covering Jews in the
Islamic world and in the Americas, as well as in Europe, with many
chapters straddling the conventional lines of division between
Sephardic, Ashkenazic, and Mizrahi history. The most up-to-date,
comprehensive, and authoritative work in this field currently
available, this volume will serve as an essential reference tool
and ideal point of entry for advanced students and scholars of
early modern Jewish history.
Too often philosemitism, the idealization of Jews and Judaism, has
been simplistically misunderstood as merely antisemitism in sheep's
clothing. This book takes a different approach, surveying the
phenomenon from antiquity to the present day, and highlighting its
rich complexity and broad impact on Western culture. Philosemitism
in History includes fourteen essays by specialist historians,
anthropologists, literary scholars and scholars of religion,
ranging from medieval philosemitism, to such modern and
contemporary topics as the African American depiction of Jews as
ethnic role models, the Zionism of Christian evangelicals,
pro-Jewish educational television in West Germany, and the current
fashion for Jewish kitsch memorabilia in contemporary East-Central
Europe. An extensive introductory chapter offers a thorough and
original overview of the topic. The book underscores both the
endurance and the malleability of philosemitism, drawing attention
to this important, yet widely neglected, facet of Jewish -
non-Jewish relations.
Too often philosemitism, the idealization of Jews and Judaism, has
been simplistically misunderstood as merely antisemitism in sheep's
clothing. This book takes a different approach, surveying the
phenomenon from antiquity to the present day, and highlighting its
rich complexity and broad impact on Western culture. Philosemitism
in History includes fourteen essays by specialist historians,
anthropologists, literary scholars and scholars of religion,
ranging from medieval philosemitism, to such modern and
contemporary topics as the African American depiction of Jews as
ethnic role models, the Zionism of Christian evangelicals,
pro-Jewish educational television in West Germany, and the current
fashion for Jewish kitsch memorabilia in contemporary East-Central
Europe. An extensive introductory chapter offers a thorough and
original overview of the topic. The book underscores both the
endurance and the malleability of philosemitism, drawing attention
to this important, yet widely neglected, facet of Jewish -
non-Jewish relations.
This study investigates the philosophical and political
significance of Judaism in the intellectual life of seventeenth and
eighteenth century Europe. Adam Sutcliffe shows how the widespread
and enthusiastic fascination with Judaism prevalent around 1650 was
largely eclipsed a century later by attitudes of dismissal and
disdain. He argues that Judaism was uniquely difficult for
Enlightenment thinkers to account for, and that their intense
responses, both negative and positive, to Jewish topics are central
to an understanding of the underlying ambiguities of the
Enlightenment itself. Judaism and the Jews were a limit case, a
destabilising challenge, and a constant test for Enlightenment
rationalism. Erudite and highly broad-ranging in its sources, and
yet extremely accessible in its argument, Judaism and Enlightenment
is a major contribution to the history of European ideas, of
interest to scholars of Jewish history and to those working on the
Enlightenment, toleration and the emergence of modernity itself.
This major contribution to the history of European ideas investigates the philosophical and political significance of Judaism in the intellectual life of seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe. Adam Sutcliffe demonstrates how the enthusiastic fascination with Judaism that was prevalent around 1650 became contemptuous a century later. The intense responses of thinkers like Voltaire to Jewish topics are central to an understanding of the underlying ambiguities of the Enlightenment. The study interests scholars of Jewish history, the Enlightenment, and of the emergence of the modern movement.
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